My inner prude

So the burning question last night was do I have an inner prude living in me? And how did that question arise?

Well, the lad is deep into his creative writing class this year and produces quite an array of material.

I’ve noticed, lately, that certain words and expressions have salted the pages liberally. I remarked on that last evening. It’s not that I find them offensive as much as forced. Sometimes they are appropriately placed, much of the time I get the sense that it’s for shock value, even though the teacher is an ‘everything including the kitchen sink and the sewer’ kind of gal.

He defends his right to freedom of expression. And, of course, maybe I’m just the slightest bit prudish. I suggested that he try removing the words and see what’s left. If he’s depending on certain words to do all his heavy lifting, then that’s not good writing.

Fortunately, he accepted that as a valid criticism. Worried him a little. I think he will re-evaluate.

His writing is his writing and I’m not going to say anything beyond that to him about it. He’s still looking for balance and his writing voice. But that doesn’t mean I won’t cringe from time to time.